Friday, March 7, 2014

Although it's very unlikely that his admittedly cheap-'n'-cheesy films will ever be acknowledged as true works of cinematic art, director/producer/screenwriter Al Adamson did nonetheless make a slew of entertainingly if trashy low-budget exploitation features for the drive-in market throughout the 1960s and 1970s.

He was born on July 25, 1929, in Hollywood, California, the son of actress Dolores Booth and actor/director Victor Adamson, who appropriately enough specialized in shoddy "B"-grade--and lower--westerns in the 1920s and 1930s, both as an actor and especially as a director. Al's first foray into filmmaking was helping his father as director and producer on the movie Halfway to Hell (1954). In the mid-'60s Al founded the prolific grindhouse outfit Independent-International Pictures with producer/distributor Sam Sherman. Adamson cranked out flicks in every conceivable genre: scuzzy biker items (Satan's Sadists (1969), Hell's Bloody Devils (1970), Angels' Wild Women (1972)), grungy westerns (Five Bloody Graves (1970), Jessi's Girls (1975)), smarmy softcore sex comedies (The Naughty Stewardesses (1975), Blazing Stewardesses (1975)), funky blaxploitation (Mean Mother (1974), Black Heat (1976)), ridiculous science-fiction dross (the gloriously ghastly Horror of the Blood Monsters (1970)), two Jim Kelly martial arts action outings (Black Samurai (1977), Death Dimension (1978)), lurid horror fare (Dracula vs. Frankenstein (1971), Brain of Blood (1971), Nurse Sherri (1978)) and even a tongue-in-cheek softcore science-fiction musical (Cinderella 2000 (1977)). Moreover, Adamson served as a producer for both the exciting Fred Williamson blaxploitation vehicle Hammer (1972) and the acclaimed made-for-TV drama Cry Rape (1973). The casts of Adamson's movies were made up of oddball but enthusiastic amateurs and faded professional thespians whose career was on the wane, including Kent Taylor, Russ Tamblyn, Lon Chaney Jr. and the ubiquitous John Carradine. Al frequently gave his wife Regina Carrol sizable parts in his films. Moreover, Adamson was a mentor for future schlock-feature directors Greydon Clark and John Cardos. He was also instrumental in launching the career of ace cinematographer Gary Graver. In addition, Adamson kept fellow top cinematographers László Kovács and Vilmos Zsigmond employed in their early days. Al Adamson's life came to a brutal and untimely end at age 66 when he was murdered by live-in contractor Fred Fulford on August 2, 1995.

DEATH DIMENSION (also known as FREEZE BOMB; KILL FACTOR; and BLACK ELIMINATOR) stars the late JIM KELLY, the first Black martial arts film star. He co-starred
alongside Bruce Lee in the blockbuster, Enter the Dragon (1973); which led to a three-picture deal with Warner Brothers where he made Black Belt Jones (1974); Three the
Hard Way (1974) co-starring blaxploitation superstars Jim Brown (Slaughter) and Fred Williamson (Black Caesar); and Hot Potato
(1976). After which he starred in the
low-budget films Black Samurai (1977); Death Dimension (1978); and
Tattoo Connection (1978). His last major appearance was in One Down, Two to Go (1982), co-starring again Brown and Williamson, along with Richard Roundtree (Shaft).

ALDO RAY, a major star in 1950s Hollywood, who worked with such legends as Spencer Tracy, Katherine Hepburn, Humphrey Bogart, Rita Hayworth, Jose Ferrer, Van Heflin, and Robert Ryan, career slowly faded as the 1960s ended. Though he worked steadily in the 1970s, the quality of his roles
diminished, and he was typically cast as gruff and gravelly rednecks. In
1976, Ray appeared in The Haunted, and also a pornographic movie, Sweet
Savage, in a non-sexual role. His career decline accelerated in the
1980s, and after being diagnosed with throat cancer, he accepted
virtually any role that came his way to maintain his costly health
insurance. His SAG membership was revoked when it was discovered he was
acting in non-union productions.

TERRY MOORE started out in radio and starred in several box office hits,
including Mighty Joe Young (1949), Come Back, Little Sheba (1952; for
which she was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting
Actress), Daddy Long Legs (1955), Between Heaven and Hell (1956), and
Peyton Place (1957). After the 1960s, Moore semi retired from acting,
only completing two films in the 1970s; though by the 1980s her career
had resumed (after gaining publicity by appearing nude at age 55 in Playboy magazine and claiming to've been secretly married to Howard Hughes) with
minor roles in low-budgeted B-movies.

GEORGE LAZENBY was the successor to Sean Connery playing James Bond in the film On Her Majesty's Secret Service. World famous, success went to his head, and he lost any chance to follow up as 007. In 1973, Lazenby was set
to work in Hong Kong with Bruce Lee. A planned meeting with Lee and
Raymond Chow to discuss a movie project for the Golden Harvest film Game
of Death collapsed after Lee's sudden death, although Lazenby would
still go on to make three of the four films he signed to do with Lee in
Hong Kong, The Shrine of Ultimate Bliss (1974), The Man from Hong Kong
(1975; aka The Dragon Flies), and A Queen's Ransom (1976). In 1978, he took out an
advertisement in Variety, offering himself for acting work. "If I could
get a TV series or a good movie, I swear I'd do it for nothing," he told
a journalist.

Death Dimension's other Bond connection (Goldfinger) comes with HAROLD "ODD JOB" SAKATA whose limited ability to speak English forced his part to be dubbed by Chinese actor James Hong.

Directed by Al Adamson, and Produced by Harry Hope; the Cast includes: Jim Kelly as Lt. Detective Ash; George Lazenby as Capt. Gallagher; Aldo Ray as Verde; Terry Moore as Madam Maria; Harold "Odd Job" Sakata as The Pig; Patch Mackenzie as Felicia; and Myron Bruce Lee as Li

From MR.E. to You

I recently returned to school; as of yet I don't have a major, but I have had a lot of minors...
I was accused of "statutory rape," but my lawyer got the charge reduced to "unlawful entry"...
He argued, how can you call it "rape" if she was already dead?...
When found in a skid row motel with a missing girl's corpse in the bed, it's best to tell the authorities that the room was like that when you checked in...
As an international superstar I try to set an example by giving back to the world and consider my trolling tween chatrooms for confused and lonely girls with daddy-issues a vocation...
I formed a charity to help promiscuous teenage girls- get their start...
I'm single, but "carried a torch" for my ex just long enough to set fire to her new boyfriend's car...
I don't regret one day of our relationship- it was a Thursday...
I want a real skinny girl; not because I think it's sexy, but it's likely she'll have poor self-esteem or a drug problem (those chicks'll do anything!)...
However, I am a sucker for big tits...
My dream is to settle down with a woman with whom I can have a child she wont try to drown...